When You Say Nothing at All
by brookefan329
Summary: She had loved him for as long as she could remember, but was his love enough for her?
1. Love Story

Author's note: I know I've been MIA for a while, but school takes up so much more time than planned. I wasn't planning to start writing for a while, but this idea came to me and I decided to run with it. Enjoy!

_Love Story_

_We were both young, when I first saw you. I close my eyes and the flashback starts. I'm standing there, on a balcony in summer air._

_Romeo take me somewhere we can be alone. I'll be waiting; all there's left to do is run. You be the prince and I'll be the princess, it's a love story, baby, just say yes._

_Marry me Juliet, you'll never have to be alone. I love you, and that's all I really know. I talked to your dad—go pick out a white dress. It's a love story, baby just say …yes._

_~Taylor Swift_

His light snoring as he lay beside her in bed did nothing but further rattle her nerves. She used to take comfort in his snoring, his deep breathes in and out followed by an ever so quiet snore. For months she would lay in this bed, wishing sleep to take hold of her, but knowing it wouldn't until she heard his rhythmic breathing, it was the only thing that lulled her to sleep.

As she lay on her side gazing out the window as the sun finally rose above the horizon, all she could think about was how she'd ended up here. More importantly, she wondered what her next move would be. She'd been lying in bed sleepless night after sleepless night knowing she had to choose, that she had to make some kind of decision, but knowing that no matter what that decision was, a part of her heart would be broken.

Life wasn't supposed to be this complicated. At least not so soon. She was only 18. This was supposed to be the most carefree summer of her life. Everything had fallen into place for her this past year. Her less than stellar grades were thankfully overshadowed by her being captain of the varsity cheerleading squad and senior class president and the combination had been just enough to get her into Duke University. Her freshman year was set to begin in only two weeks.

Duke University, it had been the plan all along. She knew her grades would never be enough on their own, so years ago she began bulking bulk up on extracurriculars so they wouldn't have to be apart for college. He had been planning on Duke for years, and his exceptional grades coupled with his natural ability for basketball made it so nobody ever questioned his ability to get in. He wouldn't go without her though. He had promised that time and time again. They were in this together. If she didn't get into Duke they would both go somewhere else. They either did it together or not at all. She remembered when that thought that brought her comfort, and longed for that feeling again.

That big white envelope had arrived two days after prom. Two days after the most magical night of her life. She would never forget his face as she slowly descended the winding staircase at her parents' house, determined not to trip and fall in her four inch heels. When they finally made eye contact, there was a light in his eyes that she knew no one else in the entire world could spark.

She knew she looked good, the long, tight, red dress perfectly offsetting her dark brown hair that fell in loose waves down her back, pinned up only on the sides. The slit in her dress left little to the imagination, but no one expected anything less from her. Everyone knew she would be crowned prom queen. The whole voting process was just part of the charade. Her role in the world of Tree Hill High School had been decided long before tonight. She was that girl. Captain of the cheerleaders, homecoming queen, and now prom queen. It was her destiny, just like he was.

When she stepped from that last stair he held out his hand and pulled her close, planting a light kiss on her forehead so as not to disturb her perfectly applied makeup. For once she was relieved that her parents didn't give the time of day about her, and they were able to escape at least one round of picture taking. Her parents were on a cruise to some remote island, and while most girls would be heartbroken, not having their parents there to fuss over them and exclaim how beautiful they looked on this important night, she was used to it. Her parents were gone significantly more than they were around, and she had adjusted to this reality years ago.

As he led her down the driveway, still unable to take his eyes off her, the limo driver stepped out from the driver's side and walked around the long, black, stretch limo to hold open the door for them. He held her hand until the last possible second, making sure she was safely inside, dress and hair all still in order. She slid over on the back seat, making enough room for him as she gazed around the vast inside. She had ridden in plenty of limos in her life, but this time special. This time it wasn't for some ridiculous event her parents were dragging her to, it was for her prom. And she got to sit there with the boy she loved more than anyone else in the whole world. He wouldn't fuss over her, complaining that her dress or hair wasn't right, telling her how to behave as her mother would have. He would just love her, as she was, because that's what he did best.

That was what he had always done best. They had met years before, when they were only six years old, at a picnic their elementary school held for all the incoming students. She had been sitting on a swing, not daring to move an inch for fear of ripping her pretty pink dress and having her mother yell at her. He came over, sandy hair a mess and falling into his eyes, and asked if he could push her. She told him she was forbidden from getting her new dress dirty, but he had told her not to worry, he would be careful, and he was. She didn't get a speck of dirt on her new dress, even though he pushed her so high that her squeals could be heard all over the playground. From that day on, they were pretty much inseparable.

When they arrived at this house, his mother had rushed out, posing them in every imaginable position, wanting to capture this night from every possible angle. But unlike her own mother, his mother showered them both with praise. She never once made a comment that her dress was too tight, or that her hair wasn't perfect. As always his mother made her feel like the most special girl in the world. Finally though, even his mother was sick of all the picture taking, and they got back into the limo and headed to the hotel where the prom was being held.

She had wanted to ride in a limo with all of their closest friends, but he had told her no, he wanted to spend at least some of the night alone with her, even if only on the way to the dance. She assumed he had something up his sleeve, so she didn't fight it, knowing she'd see her best friends soon enough.

The night had been magical. The decorations were perfect, everyone had gone all out on their dresses and tuxes, the band played great music, and everyone happily danced the night away. She was crowned prom queen, and him prom king, just as everyone had expected, and they shared a dance with everyone watching them. Her heart soared with pride in that moment. Everyone knew how much they loved each other, and everyone was jealous. All the girls wanted to be her, and all the guys wanted to date her. It was the way it had always been, the way it was supposed to be.

She remembered a similar dance, years ago, at the end eighth grade. It was their first school dance and the night she had been looking forward to for thirteen years. A week before he had come up to her at her locker, and bashfully smiling at her, with a mouth full of braces, he asked her to go to the dance with him. She nodded yes, trying to hide her excitement at sharing such a special night with him, but as soon as he walked away, she couldn't fight the urge to clap her hands in glee.

She remembered dancing with him that night, how he couldn't take his eyes off her. She remembered being embarrassed by a pimple on her chin, and hoping that her first experiment into the world of makeup had been an effective one, and the cover up was still working. He held her close during that first slow song, singing softly into her ear, and her heart soared. He pulled away a little, and with a determined look, he leaned in, planting a soft kiss on her lips. She pulled away, mostly out of shock, she hadn't expected her first kiss to happen that night, to happen with him. Looking curiously at him, she leaned in and this time planted a kiss on his lips. When she pulled away he looked at her and smiled, his blue eyes twinkling. He held her even closer after that, neither of them barely hearing the music, but being blissfully aware that everyone was watching them dance. Everyone already knew, even at thirteen years old, that they were meant to be together.

On their way back to her house after prom to change into more comfortable clothes, the limo made an unexpected turn. It pulled up the river court and she looked at him confused. Was this all part of his plan? He got out first, and shooing away the driver, held out his hand and helped her out himself. The river court wasn't the most special place on earth, just a beat up old basketball court by the river, but it held so many memories for them. They had shared many moments there, just the two of them.

He led her over to their bench. The one they had spent countless hours sitting on, holding each other, talking, and just falling deeper and deeper in love. She shivered a little, and he took his jacket off, draping it over her shoulders knowing it would soon bring her warmth.

"What are we doing here?" She asked, wondering what he had planned for her.

"It just seemed to be the only place to do this." She could sense the nervousness behind his words, and feared that their perfect night might not be ending so perfectly after all.

"Do what?" She was worried now, his tone sending chills through her body, making her wrap his jacket around her even more tightly.

After a few minutes of silence hanging heavily between them, he stood up and looked at her, then got down on one knee.

"I can't remember a day when I didn't love you. I truly believe that that first day we met, when we were only six years hold, I fell in love with you right then. And from that day on I made it my job in life to watch out for you, for your health, your happiness, but most importantly your heart. I know that we're young, and I know that people might think it's too soon and that we should live more of our lives, but I don't care. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, every single day, you and me."

Reaching into the pocket of his pants, he pulled out a small, navy, velvet box. She felt her breath catch in her throat. She couldn't believe this was happening. It wasn't part of the plan. They were supposed to finish college first.

Slowly opening the box and holding it out to her, offering her not only the ring, but a promise to love her forever, he whispered "Will you marry me?"

She looked at him for a minute, before springing of the bench into his arms.

"Yes. Yes. Yes. Absolutely."

He carefully slid the ring on her finger and then captured her lips in his.

The ring sparkled in the moon light. It was everything she had always dreamed of. The princess cut diamond sparkling so bright, the band lined with smaller diamonds. She had admired this ring many times over the years, sneaking into his mother's room to try it on. And even though through the years she had learned to appreciate the finer things in life, his grandmother's ring always had a certain allure to her. And now, after it had been cleaned up a bit, it truly was the most beautiful ring in the world.

"Why now?" She finally asked, once the tears of joy had stopped flowing down both their faces.

"I know we talked about waiting, but the more I thought about it, the more I couldn't think of any reason why we should. I want to do everything with you, I want you by my side every step of the way. I know that you say your parents don't care, but they do, and my mom clearly does, and we wouldn't be able to live together if I didn't make an honest woman out of you and put a ring on your finger."

"Live together?" She asked, a little confused. She thought the plan was to live in freshman dorms, apart, for at least their first year of college. This way they wouldn't miss out on anything college life had to offer.

"I know that's not the plan. But when I was there visiting last month with Nathan to meet with Coach, we passed the cutest little apartments. We stopped to check them out because obviously Nathan and Haley need somewhere to live, and since Duke doesn't have married student housing, they had to find something off campus. And as we stood there, inside the apartment, I could just see us there. See us starting our life together. With Nathan and Haley right next door. It just all seemed so perfect, so I signed us a lease. From there, everything just started to make sense to me. So I went right home and asked my mom if I could finally have the ring."

Brooke stared at him in shock for a few minutes. This wasn't the plan. But, really, it was even better than the plan. It was them together, everyday. The thought of that made her smile, and as that smile brightened up her entire face, a similar smile broke out across his face.

He wrapped his arms around her tightly, so tightly she knew he would never let go. He would never leave her. Lucas would never leave her, and that was the only thing in her life that mattered.


	2. Restless

Restless

_I don't belong to no one  
I don't belong at all  
Got my face in the corner  
Got my back to the wall…_

And pretty baby I'm restless, restless  
Restless through and through  
I'm restless, restless  
You look restless too

_Restless sleep, twisted dreams  
Moving targets, silent screams  
Restless city, restless street  
Restless you, restless me  
I'm a face at the window  
I'm a black satin sheet  
And I can't stay warm  
I stay out in the street_

_~Tom Petty_

Content. Safe. Secure. She could remember feeling all of those things as they sat there at the River Court holding each other right after he proposed. They had each other, they were starting a life together, and that was supposed to be all she needed.

Those feelings kept her going for weeks, months even, until she started to feel something else creeping in. At first it was a slight feeling, one of unease, a feeling she could just brush off. But as the days passed she felt that feeling growing exponentially each day.

Lucas had pretty much moved into her parents' house with her. As always, Mr. and Mrs. Davis were spending the summer traipsing around Europe, only calling once a week to see if she needed more money. Lucas' mother had gone to New Zealand to spend time with her boyfriend Andy, so the two teens were all alone in Tree Hill. After a sleepless night all alone in that big house, Lucas promised she would never sleep alone again. That same day he moved most of his stuff into her bedroom.

Surprisingly, their parents had all been excited about the engagement. Lucas' mom Karen had known about it for months, and because she loved Brooke like a daughter, she was ecstatic the two were taking such a big step and that Brooke would soon officially be a part of their family.

Telling Brooke's parents had been pretty intimidating, they had no idea it was coming. Catching them though turned out to be their biggest problem. They were only going to be in Tree Hill for a couple days between their cruise and their Europe trip, and the entire time they were there they were running around like chickens with their heads cut off, trying to prepare for their next trip. Finally Lucas and Brooke were able to get them to sit down for 5 minutes, and, holding hands, they broke the news together.

Brooke wasn't sure they would take it well. Her parents had met in their 20s but waited until they were nearly 30 to get married. They were always saying how happy they were they didn't get married right away, and how the time together before their engagement was priceless and really allowed them to grow together, so when they did get married they knew that they were truly ready to spend the rest of their lives together.

Her concerns were unfounded, as her parents were instantly excited about the news. When Brooke expressed her surprise at this, explaining she assumed they would want them to wait, they admitted that while they normally thought marriage was appropriate later in life, Lucas and Brooke were different. They didn't need to spend years getting to know each other, they had known each other their entire lives and were destined to be together.

Destiny. It has always been such a romantic word to Brooke. And after a big dinner that night with Brooke's parents and Karen, Brooke was sure that's exactly what this was, her destiny.

They decided to get married after their freshman year of college. They first discussed putting it off, but they knew that that summer was really their last to just be free. After that they would have to think about internships, or summer classes, preparing themselves for either a career or graduate school. Because that only meant a year long engagement, they were busy planning right away.

Lucas' father, as tumultuous as their relationship had, was kind enough to offer up his beach house. Brooke had always imagined being married on a beach, so the location was perfect. The downstairs patio was big enough that they would be able to seat all of their friends and family around it, using the patio as a dance floor, and putting tables in the sand around it.

The plans quickly fell into place. Brooke planned to design her own dress, and her bridesmaids were set. Haley and Peyton were her best friends in the world, and they were ecstatic to stand up at the altar with their friend.

Haley married Nathan, Lucas' brother, when they were only sixteen in a ceremony on that same beach, but just the two of them and Haley's parents. Peyton and Brooke had always been a little heart broken that they weren't there to see their friend get married. As unconventional as it was for sixteen year olds to get married, for Nathan and Haley it made sense. They had their share of tough times though. Haley had left town a third of the way through their junior year to go on tour. She was a gifted musician, but her leaving broke Nathan's heart. It had taken them months to get back on track after she showed up on his door step, heart in her hands, offering it back to Nathan. Now though, they were closer than ever, and looking forward to starting at Duke in August with Lucas and Brooke.

Peyton and Brooke had been friends even longer than Brooke had known Lucas. Truth be told, they met when they were so young, that neither can remember that fateful day. They had been nearly inseparable their entire lives, even once Lucas came into the picture. Peyton and Brooke had little in common. Brooke was the girly girl, she had loved clothes, makeup, and boys for as long as they could both remember, whereas Peyton had an affinity for music and drawing. Still, the two girls had each other, and cheerleading, in common, and that was enough. Their bond was unbreakable.

Once the location and their wedding parties were set, Brooke and Lucas jumped right into having the summer of their lives. Both were working, Lucas coaching at a local basketball camp, and Brooke working for a boutique in town, but every minute they weren't at work was spent together. Whether they were at the beach, basking in the warm summer sun, or doing something as mundane as watching a movie and cuddling on the couch, they spent every minute possible together.

Then, one morning, Brooke woke up with a strange feeling, but she couldn't place what it was. It wasn't a strong feeling, just one of slight unease. She wasn't sure why though, everything was perfect. It was what they had always planned.

But as the feeling grew, she began to realize that it wasn't what they had always planned. It was what he had planned. What he wanted. Their plan had been different. Their plan was to go to college together, but not get married until they graduated. They would live apart for at least their first year, making friends and establishing separate identities. Making sure that as they grew up, they grew even closer together, as both were positive they would do.

He had changed that plan though. Now she would be married before her 20th birthday. She would spend her evenings cooking him dinner and tidying up their apartment. They would go to every party together, because they would be together. Everyday. Forever.

The more she thought about it, the more that feeling of unease grew. He had chosen their apartment. He never asked her opinion on it, he liked it and just decided it was what they were doing. He had chosen Duke too. She never had much of a say in it, she just went on with the plan. Nevermind they didn't have any fashion related majors, she was willing to put it all on hold for him, so he could pursue basketball. She thought she would be happy enough just being with him. She would keep fashion as a hobby and pursue some other major.

She really thought she could ignore her feelings of unease. She tried to convince herself it was just nerves and that everything would be fine. It worked for a while, at least until that big envelope showed up on her doorstep.

She had applied to the Fashion Institute of Technology on a whim. Sure it was in New York City, and she'd never want to be that far away from Luke, but she wanted to apply anyway, even if only to see if she could get in. She had pored over her sketches for days, trying to select the ones that were just right. And when she finally mailed off her application materials, she had decided not to tell Lucas. After all, she knew it was a long shot and didn't want to have to tell him she hadn't been accepted when the rejection letter would undoubtedly arrive.

Shock overcame her as she peeled open the envelope. Everyone knew what big envelopes from colleges meant. As she read the words, they barely penetrated. She had been accepted. She had been accepted to FIT. After jumping up and down in glee for a few minutes, she reached into her pocket for her cell phone, excited to share the news with Lucas.

But then she remembered, he didn't know she had applied. And he probably wouldn't be too happy about it. After all, it wasn't the plan. Their deposits had already been sent into Duke. The lease on their apartment signed. The engagement ring on her finger. Her future was already set.

Still, she couldn't shake a nagging feeling. So nagging that she told Lucas she was going to fly up to New York City for a few days to visit with her cousin Courtney. The days she would be gone coincided perfectly with a camping trip Lucas and Nathan had planned, so he didn't so much as question her about her plans. He drove her to the airport, kissed her goodbye, and made her promise to have fun with her cousin and to be safe.

Brooke really did go to visit her cousin. They had a great time shopping and eating out at fancy restaurants. She shared every minute of the trip with Lucas when they spoke on the phone each night. Well, every minute except for what she did that Friday.

She woke up early and took a cab to FIT. She met with an admissions counselor and went on a tour of the campus. She had lunch with some students who were there taking summer classes. By the end of the day she realized just how much she was giving up for "their" plan. Still, she tried to convince herself, it was okay. Lucas. He was what mattered. They were going to get married, that was the important thing. That was her destiny.

Brooke tried to remind herself of that every other minute the rest of her trip and the flight back to Tree Hill. And when she got off the plane and saw him standing there, holding a bouquet of flowers she smiled and ran into his outstretched arms. As he pulled her close to him and kissed her forehead she still had to reminder herself, even then....

Brooke and Lucas. Nothing else mattered.


End file.
